Landon Knoblock's CACAW - Stellar Power (Skirl ,2013) ****

By Paul Acquaro

The opening moments of CACAW's Stellar Power is a quick study in contrasts. A heavy rhythmic figure kicks things off and then soon enough a light electric piano locks into an abstract groove only to circle back to the thick riff.  The rhythms keep shifting back and forth, never too steady, but never too wobbly either. Then at the halfway mark, the keyboard distorts, the melody comes in on the sax, sounding somewhat like Weather Report.

The next track throws me, gone are the tricky grooves and gritty textures and in their place is a peculiar synth sound, like the 'brass orchestra' setting on an old Casio keyboard (no, not literally, it's a pretty cool sound) playing a lilting figure. As the sax takes on the melody the keyboard's sound morphs and the song fractures into little pieces.

CACAW is lead by keyboardist Landon Knoblock and, according to his website, the trio splintered off from a larger group that performed the music of pianist/composer Andrew Hill. While the group seems to have veered far from their origin, I suppose that when you have the talent of woodwind player Oscar Noriega and drummer of Jeff Davis behind you, and you're a keyboardist with a love of science and science fiction, how could you not expect to explore the intersection of synth rock and jazz with song titles that reference Blade Runner?

Give CACAW a listen ... it's a rich and evocative affair that explores pairing synthesized and acoustics sounds. The drive in 'Table Top Glances Before Dawn' is complimented nicely by the atmospheric balladry in 'Space Robots Fall in Love' and the sludgy riff that kick's off 'Eyes Heart Race.'

Check out CACAW here:

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New Atlantis Octet - Unto The Sun (Not Two, 2013) ****

By Stef

In the early seventies, jazz was propulsed into in a cultural trend of full exuberance and possibilities, in line with the technical and aural floodgates being opened in the second half of the sixties. New instruments and new technology were introduced, but also the communal concept of creating music on the spot, with whomever happened to be around, and it basically didn't matter whether your background was in rock or in funk or in jazz, the more influences, the better, as long as the music performed originated from a sense of musical community, of tribal belonging, of being member of the same spiritual or visionary family, which would break down the boundaries of convention, the limitations of bourgeois society, the phobia and pettiness of middle-class America, breaking into new realms of love and spiritual unity, unleashing powers and sounds unheard of before, and some of them went even beyond the confines of our mother earth, deep into the universe, and even to Saturn.

One man even claimed he was from Saturn, a musician called Sun Ra, who already by the late fifties had paved the way, and even if people thought him excentric and bizarre, his performances and outfits and music gradually got acceptance and even traction with an enthusiastic incrowd of fans, with musical sentiments that gradually also shifted from a boppish base to the more maddening sounds of free jazz, but not with the smaller quartets or quintets as expected, but with large bands, introducing a cocktail of instruments, resulting in the cosmic chaos that became his trademark.

Other bands followed suit, with the Human Arts Ensemble a highly recommended reference for the ones interested, with musicians such as Luther Thomas, James Marshall, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Oliver Lake and Lester Bowie. The music had to be raw, brutal, chaotic, unrefined, almost by definition, as long as it was expansive and lengthy and hypnotic and exuberant, a powerhouse of sound created by a whole group of musicians who felt comfortable moving in and out of the huge wall of sound of cacophonic voices and maddening percussive power.

Drummer Sam Lohman and guitarist Edward Ricart now created the New Atlantis Octet, whether just an opportunity meeting or a real project is uncertain, with great musicians such as Roy Campbell Jr on trumpet, Steve Swell on trombone, Aaron Martin on alto saxophone, Jason Ajemian and Vattel Cherry on bass, and Andrew Barker on drums. Yes, that's right, two bass players and two drummers.

And the music goes back to this early seventies mayhem, with two long tracks, fully improvised, and the sound is rambunctious, loud, dense and raucous, and even if the listener is overwhelmed at first, the playing is so good, and the musicians sufficiently sophisticated and unselfish to give priority to the overall sound, taking a step back once in a while to give their bandmates some space, that the overall piece is highly enjoyable.

You know of course that what you're hearing is not really evolving, that there is no point to which they are working, it's all in the "now", full of energy and group dynamics, and even if their final destination clearly is to reach the sun (who would doubt the truthfulness of the title?), this is all about the journey itself.

In Sun Ra's cosmic philosophy, outer space and ancient cultures have obvious connections, and hence the titles here, "Sekhmet" for the first thirty-five minutes refers to ancien Egypt and "Amaterasu" for the next thirty-seven refers to Japan's shinto religion, each time invoking the goddesses of the sun, the former the daughter of no less than Ra himself, the second being the goddess of the sun herself.

Both tracks give you more than one hour of absolute cosmic chaos. It is fun, it is exhausting, it is endless, it is a listening experience that once the last notes are played after seventy-three minutes of uninterupted listening at full volume, and the silence of your surroundings is heard again, perplexingly, your brain has been programmed in such a way, that you have no other thought in your head than that you've actually reached the sun.


Available at instantjazz.com.

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Forebrace - Bad Folds (Copepod Records, 2013) ****½

By Paul Acquaro

What is this?

The dark rumble of bass and drums is suddenly pierced by a sharp melody from a clarinet, it appears suddenly like an X-Acto knife poking through dense fabric, slowly shredding the material and letting bits of light through. Then some fearsome guitar playing ratchets up the intensity ... it's Alex Ward's group Forebrace and their album Bad Folds.

Ward, the clarinetist and leader, has created a monster of a group that embraces hard hitting predecessors like Last Exit and the textures of early fusion in an avant-garde metal approach. When the more tender tones of the clarinet come to the fore, memories of the sonic brutality only a moment ago fade, but not for long. In addition to Ward, the group is Roberto Sassi on electric guitar, Santiago Horro on electric bass and Jem Doulton on drums.

From opening sounds of 'Presage' to the forlorn intro in the follow up 'Dolorimetry', folk like melodies get into brawling encounters with driving rock rhythms. The group works in contrasts between atmospheric whimsy and intense improvisatory rock.

Dense ensemble playing gives way to the dark funk passages of 'Outwall,' which to me channels Miles Davis' On the Corner. Sassi take the spotlight here with a riveting solo that is all electric shocks and shards of broken glass - the metallic edges complimenting the clarinet as the two delve deep into intertwining passages.

The outlier is 'Groundmass', where the group embraces a lighter approach, but it is in no way less intense. Horro and Doulton are felt here the most, with the electric bass throbbing and pulsating while the drums add some off-kilter motion.

The sheer audacity of the sound leaves a gorgeous auditory residue lingering long after listening. This is one to seek out.

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Happy New Ears: The Vote is On!

What a fantastic response from you, our readers -- indeed it has been a good year for new music!

It wasn't easy to take all of the thoughtful suggestions and boil them down to a select 15, but we did it. To the right, the recordings are listed and ready for your consideration.

You can vote between now and December 31, 2013 at midnight, when the winner will be declared and a new year of new music begins.

So, cast your votes, mobilize your fans, persuade the cynics, convince the indifferent, wake up the musical sleepers .... and have fun!

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The Deciders - We Travel The Airwaves (Jazzland, 2013) ****

With a title somewhat inspired by Sun Ra, Norwegian bass player Ole Morten Vågan assembles a band of some of Northern Europe's most creative musicians, with Rudi Mahall on bass clarinet, Axel Dörner on trumpet, Fredrik Ljungkvist on tenor and clarinet, and Jon Fält on drums, for a performance of his own compositions, and as he describes in the video below, often built up around nothing more than a theme, snippets of composed sequences, musical ideas and thoughts jotted down when travelling, assembled and structured and the starting phase for these excellent improvisers to be used as a springboard for expansion, interaction, dialogue and collision or maybe collusion too.

This is jazz "pur sang", with musicians fully at ease with the material, enjoying their individual voices of freedom and expression to be shared with like-minded and like-talented artists to bring something that is more than the sum of its parts, a joint instant co-creation of boppish moments full of boisterious romp or quieter abstract introspections, yet always kept together by a common feeling of musical joy, cemented by Ole Morten Vågan's great themes.

So unlike Sun Ra, this band is not 'traveling the spaceways', but staying closer to home, more down to earth, no less exuberant, yet within the confines of humanity, and with only simple acoustics as travel means.

If you like bands like "Motif", "Die Enttäuschung", "Peeping Tom" - not surprisingly bands with some of the same musicians, and not surprisingly bands that build on jazz heritage to propulse them into modern artistic sensitivities - you will also like The Deciders.

 

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Catherine Sikora, Han-earl Park, Francois Grillot - Tracks in theDirt (Clockwork Mercury Press, 2013) ****

By Paul Acquaro

Saxophonist Catherine Sikora's playing is not predictable, you never know where a line, or even the instrument's tone may go, and she knows how to use it to create captivating sounds. Tracks in the Dirt, a recent improvised collaboration with guitarist Han-earl Park and bassist Francois Grillot, exemplifies this restless experimentation. The recording is an enjoyable listen for open ears.

The opening track, 'Helix' contains some of my favorite moments of the recording. Sikora's soprano sax sounds like it is drawing a line from each hit of the bass, with Park coloring in the spaces between. Park, with whom she also released Cork 04-04-11, is an understated and sympathetic accompanist throughout. 

Feel the force of Sikora's playing too - halfway through the second track, 'The Chopping Block' her soprano is clear and cutting, the melodic lines spinning and swirling around Park's textures and Grillot's rhythmic pulse. 

The last track, 'Afternoon Song', begins with the ambient rustling of Parks prepared guitar (my assumption), that almost sounds like the chirping of birds. As his presence deepens, the sound of the sax and thawk of the bass, in and out if time, in-sync with abstract notions grows stronger. In these opening moments we are reminded of the chance encounters and smart musical ideas that make this recording so effective. 

Check it out on Bandcamp - take your time - it's worth it:

As a side note, also on the Bandcamp site is the album 'Lullaby for the Wolves', a collaboration with drummer Ziv Ravitz. Sikora sticks to tenor on this muscular duo recording:

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Open Graves - Somewhere Beyond Or Behind (Prefecture, 2013) ****

By Stef

Not only the band's name, but also the music is something exceptional. I gave "Flight Patterns", one of their former albums a good rating, and this album, even more minimalist, is at the same high level. The band is actually a duo, Jesse Olsen Bay on metal percussion, broken and acoustic guitar, and Paul Kikuchi (also Empty Cage Quartet) on metal percussion, prepared piano and drum kit.

In a way, the instruments used are relatively pointless, since both musicians manage to create sound environments with possibly any kind of instrument or object.

On "Sirocco", the first track, they only use percussion, creating a tense and flowing sound, often barely touching the silence underneath, like the wind mentioned in its title, creating an incredible sense of space and intensity, a kind of menacing beauty that defies explanation.

They switch instruments on "Blues For Morton", with the broken guitars taking a lead role. Tuning and chords and harmony have become irrelevant, yet despite this, the sounds are harmonious and well-paced and in a way almost natural, as in intimate, and recognisable, even if you can't and haven't heard this before - a welcoming strangeness.

"Somewhere Beyond Or Behind" is possibly the most explicit piece, with piano and guitar easily identifiable, offering more substance to the slow and eery progression, a slow evolution and transgression into maintained silence.


Listen and buy from Bandcamp.

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Common Objects - Live In Morden Tower (Mikroton, 2013) ****½

By Stef

Somehow several musicians - British and German - have found a second home at Mikroton, the Russian label, that offers opportunities next to Another Timbre, the UK avant-garde label where we find the same musicians.

"Common Objects" are Rodhri Davies on harp, Lee Patterson on amplified processes and devices, and John Butcher on saxophone.

All three men have played together before, in duo or trio settings or in ensembles with other musicians. What they share is a clear disrespect for tradition and a relentless search, deep into sound, not only of the instrument itself, but of the sound in an environment, full of wonder of what they might find, yet sufficiently in control of their instruments to bring something of value.

The album kicks off with three solo pieces. "Spatial Principle" starts the album with a single piercing tone on the electric harp. If you have any idea about what a harp sounds like, please forget the concept, this is somethig else. Other tones, somewhat warmer, lower and extended, replace the piercing intro, generating some rhythmic changes - barely audible - or does this happen only in my mind?

With "Grade A Fancy", John Butcher enters the scene, with high notes, tongslaps, windy sounds and birdlike chatter, through circular breathing almost dialoguing with himself, moving the short piece into many twists and turns, of volume and silence, excitement and calm.

Patterson delivers "Thoracic Pattern", a pure electronic drone, and strangely enough, possibly the piece with the most human warmth, especially when the track softens - or can I no longer trust my heart either?

The real "pièce de résistance" is the long "Breathless, Sodden Trash", on which the three artists engage as a trio. The difference is immediately clear, there is more density - even if that is a somewhat futile word here - but especially with stronger musical dynamics, with voices that find each other and amplify the sounds that erupt out of the silence, or grow organically, slowly, deliberately and unpredictably, to be welcomed by even lesser known sonic friends, welcoming them in this world beyond silence, chattering and dancing full of suprise and excitement, then calming down again, enjoying the languid pleasure of sustained notes, superimposing them on the same journey with similar sounds that are yet also totally different, with sudden outbursts of the sax, with some emotional anxiety presenting its story, evolving in absolute incomprehension - and distress even - among the colleagues - are they arguing? - are they celebrating? - yet soon they settle back in little sounds like bubbles in water, and resign themselves to silence, their natural default position, when no more energy is left for physical exertion.

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RED Trio – Rebento (NoBusiness, 2013) ****

By Dan Sorrells

RED Trio aren’t a piano trio per se; they just happen to be a trio with piano, bass and drums. After two albums featuring “guest” musicians John Butcher and Nate Wooley, RED Trio return to NoBusiness in their original configuration. Rebento picks up pretty much where their 2010 debut left off: huge, intense tracts of exploratory clatter that are often whittled down to an urgent, repeating pulse or theme. But like all good free improvisation, Rebento isn’t a music of stasis, and RED Trio’s methodology generates anything but predictable results.

“Carne” starts the A side with the crunch and splinter of Hernani Faustino’s bass and Gabriel Ferrandini’s drums. Soon, pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro comes careening in with a Tayloresque flurry of notes. After about five minutes, the trio gets pulled into a rapid current—an amazing, roiling feeling of movement that’s exhilarating, even if it’s hard to surmise just what it is that’s driving them along. It’s a feeling we’ve gotten from RED Trio before: this sense that, despite the classic instrumental lineup, we’re encroaching upon territory that’s beyond history or influence, cutting a path through the dense thicket of three overlapping minds, one that becomes illuminated when they put fingers to instrument.

After a blustery beginning, “Para” settles into a haunting soundscape of (what seems to be) scraped cymbals. There’s a strange, spectral doubling of sound, as though the cymbal tones are colliding around inside of the piano. With the touch of Tilbury, Pinheiro begins stringing delicate beads of notes. Soon, a crescendo: huge, open swells of piano and droning bass. It reaches a skin-tingling peak that’s overwhelming and—to use an adjective we don’t deploy often enough when describing this music—beautiful. “Canhão” spans the entirety of side B, a U-shaped piece that tumbles down its starting slope until it reaches a spacious, unsettling nadir, only to take off again on the tips of Ferrandini’s flying drumsticks.

When I think of the ground RED Trio has covered since we first encountered them in 2010, I also think of Mark Wastell, in an interview, remarking about the dangers of pinning a description to a group’s sound, and how “commentators and critics” are always 12 months behind the true flow of progress. Rebento has reached us now, at the end of 2013, but it was recorded over a year ago. It’s invigorating music from a band that continues to challenge itself. Where might RED Trio be today?


Available at instantjazz.com.

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Alvin Curran - Shofar Rags (Tzadik, 2013) ****½

By Stef

"So when Jews first stood upright in the savannah they blew on their shofars, bobbed up and down, dropped stones, and praised lightning and thunder... everybody else ran for cover ... When noise, breath, speech and music were all the same. In those days c. 40,000 years ago, sea shells, human bones, animal horns and bamboo were the instrumentarium of the wind-section of the human big-band. On occasion they would jam in the great Rift Valley, or Nubian desert, in a club on the Nile or the Euphrates rivers or in some asteroid crater in Tajikistan. Roving groups of just a few, or hundreds, would meet by chance in these special locations—take out their beautiful ram, eland, kudu, gazelle, elephant, or argali horns and go for it."

So says Alvin Curran in the liner notes to this fantastic album. Curran, the iconoclast, avant-garde experimenter goes back to Jewish roots in a very distant time, playing nothing less than the ram's horn, the jewish "shofar" in a collated and dubbed interplay with his own electronics and ambient sounds, and pieces of performances with William Winant on large tam tam, Arnold Dreyblatt on accordion and Michael Riessler on soprano clarinet.

The result is absolutely staggering, truly something you've never heard before and for that reason alone already worth the purchase.

The shofar itself as an instrument has only one tone, and the player has to use lip and breath techniques to vary the sounds, and incredibly as it seems, Curran makes this unwieldy instrument come to life in the most gripping and moving way, varying between long laments or low growls, between spiritual meditation and sounds of utter agony.

But Curran goes even further "The challenge I set myself, to morph the shofar’s archaic technology with the very latest software, remains an elusive post-modern dream because this ur-instrument defies intelligence, whether artificial or human, and shows no native interest in partnering with cold digital chips. Both sides have lots of “attitude”—from arrogance to anarchy to autism. There could not be a better setup for mutual annihilation."

Yet he achieves the opposite, as you might expect. The shofar sounds are contrasted, embedded, surrounded, amplified and accompanied by noises from real life or radio or nature or other performances, dubbed and edited and mangled into something unique, the perfect match between prehistory and science fiction.

Yet that's only the technical part. In essence, the album is about roots, about universal feelings, that may have generated awe in olden days, a feeling of belonging and joint suffering and reverence and elation, yet that today are still recognisable and may generate the exact same feelings and esthetic appreciation, regardless of culture or geography or gender or ethnicity ... and yes why not ... regardless of musical preferences.

Watch a video with Curran on shofar

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